Bangladesh

Heavy monsoon rains have caused several major rivers in Bangladesh to burst their banks, displacing thousands and affecting nearly a million people in all, according to the country's Disaster Management Bureau (DMB). (..) The World Food Programme (WFP) has distributed high energy biscuits to some 60,000 displaced in Satkhira. "Food and shelter are the big problems in the immediate future," Michael Dunford, WFP Bangladesh country director, said from Dhaka.

Floods in southwest Bangladesh have inundated vast swathes of farmland, affecting nearly a million people, many of whom are stranded on embankments with no food or shelter, officials said Tuesday. (..) The World Food Programme (WFP) is also providing emergency food assistance to 57,000 people affected by floods in Satkhira, the agency said in a statement.

(..) “Thousands of poor families have been devastated due to the effects of the flooding. A vast number of ultra-poor people are stranded on embankments, with no access to food and shelter,” said acting WFP Country Director Michael Dunford.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide $51.3 million in food assistance to Bangladesh in the 2011-12 fiscal year. (..) The McGovern-Dole award will provide benefits worth $30 million for 350,000 children through the World Food Programme (WFP).

Tens of thousands of stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh face abuse, starvation and detention in a "silent crisis" that could lead to a humanitarian emergency if the authorities do not do more to protect them, a report by Refugees International (RI) said.(..)Christa Rader, WFP's country director for Bangladesh, told AlertNet the situation is "critical because the people living in the camps depend 100 percent on the food we provide".